CARELESS POSTING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 79, 8 June 1945, Page 3

CARELESS POSTING

LETTERS IN SYDNEY BOWSER MISTAKEN FOR BOX In a bowser casing removed l'rom a service station in North Sydney workmen found 15 letters that had been "posted" in the machine by careless or absent-minded people. The other day an irate old gentleman in the. city was. heard loudly cursing the department for not providing larger posting slits in their pillar boxes. He was trying to post a letter in a transformer box. The delivery section of the Sydney G.P.O. was presented with a poser later in the day. Two express letters, marked urgent were posted with no address on them or indicai tion of the senders. They will have to lie sent on to the Dead Letter Office. Important official documents may be held up because of carelessness. Letters and articles' have been found in strange places—in drains, water pipes under bridges, buried away in rubbish tins and even in fire alarm boxes. Explaining in spite of all efforts to persuade the public to address letters correctly and adequately ? every day brought its crop of letters which could not be delivered. Mr J. Malone deputy-Director of Posts* and Telegraphs pointed out that of 400,000,000 letters or articles posted at the Sydney G.P.0., in the past 12 months 2,G18 ? 248 had to be returned to the senders. Messengers and office girls carelessly post letters or articles possessing only the barest details of an address, and expect postal officials to do the. rest. It is often, an impossible task. During 1942-43 money and valuables totalling £144,950 were found in articles and letters sent on to the Dead Letter Office. Letters and, articles posted without an address for the same period, totalled 23,217. Of these, 52G contained money and valuables of a total value of £2253. Almost all of these articles had been, returned to the senders.